Very Picky Eater!! - Port Saint Lucie,FL

Be patient and keep trying. Start each snack and meal with table food, then go with the jar food if he won't eat. You should eat with him, nad eventually he will want what you have. Don't give up!

Hi Y.,

I have to tell you my daughter would not eat more than a 1/4 cup of any form of solid food until 14 months and my cousin's child would not take anything but a bottle of formula until age 2 1/2! So, you're situation is not all that uncommon :)

Jarred baby food or even instant rice cereal really is not the healthiest form of nutrition for any baby. I recommend starting with whole foods like mushed bannana mixed with breastmilk or soymilk in your case. Or avacado mushed with soymilk. So why don't you start there? Then every day add less liquid until your child is eating the just banana or avacado. You can still do the jarred food but slowly start adding other foods like apples, cooked mushed baby carrots, etc. You could start with applesauce which has more texture than jarred baby applesauce. Then start adding some small chunks of real apple into the applesauce...you get the idea, right? And try letting her play with the food in his hands. It's messy, but at 2 he should be feeding herself with his hands or a fork and spoon.

The best book for making your own baby food is "Super Baby Food". You can get it at the library or Amazon. It will give you lots of great tips for packing nutrition into the food with things like Brewer's Yeast and ground flax seeds. Another great book is "Healthy Eating for Life for Children" by Neal Barnard.

Best of Luck,
~G. G.

Lucky for me, my daughter, now 4, has ALWAYS had a really great appetite. Doesn't matter what it is, she's trying it. My niece, who I cared for for the first few months of her life, was an entirely different story. She wouldn't eat much at all, and now she just prefers fruit snacks. My solution: Cut the baby food COLD TURKEY!!! Don't offer anything other than what is acceptable. It may sound cruel, but trust me, when he gets hungry enough, he will eat what you are offering. He may resist at first...But as long as you are keeping him hydrated, and maybe some SOLID finger foods, he won't starve.

That healthy eating for life book is awesome !!!

ok, for my advice, this is what I did when my little one didn't want table foods. I saved jars, bought a blender, and started making his table foods while he was sleeping and storing it in the jars. We started by blending it to the texture of his baby jar foods. I let him see what I was doing when serving, and he took it at face value. Every week I processed the food less, and in no time (took 3 weeks) I had him both eating whole table food on his own, and loving it !!! I reccommend never giving babies jar foods period. The nice lady below who spoke about mashed bannanna and avocado had it right, those were the first foods I gave my little guy too (at 3 months old and he loved it), but I let my mother feed him jars afterward and I regrett it...anyway, good luck !!!

Well Y., I have not had this particular situation but one of my best friends did. It started out that she was over protective and did not want to give her twins regular food too early, and turned into them not wanting it. She took too long to introduce table food is what the Dr. told her. She finally had to wean them off of the jar foods and fast. Anything that they would eat in the jars she would start mashing up from table food form. making it almost the consistancy of jar food and mixing them together. Slowly adding more and more table food and less jar food then thickening the consistancy till it was just regular table food broken up small and they were both eating it just fine. It is kind of the same thing alot of moms have to do when switching formulas for a baby, slowly trading out the jar food for table food. She was even making it a little in advance and putting it in the jar so the twins would not know the differance, then slowly using a bowl. If you use a bowl now I would continue doing that but whatever you do don't let him see you mix the food together for a while. I hope this is helpful to you and if there is anything I can add to this please contact me.
C.

Wow, still on jar foods! I wonder if he has a taste for real veggies, fruit, & the like yet. I would recommend getting a food grinder from a baby consignment shop. I would use fresh fruits and lightly steam veggies (only 2 a meal, don't overwhelm his palette) and coursely blend them up. Every few days grind them less and less until he adapts. That way he can acquire a taste for real food not 'processed baby food' in a gradual manner. Sometimes jar food just doesn't taste the same. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you and your son!
Most kindly,
D.

I always hate it when a Pediatrician says something is bad, Some kids just do what they want when they are ready. Take what his favorit jar food is and then take that particualr food in the next stage. Have you tried stage 3 foods they have chunks in it. Then from stage 3 foods work your way to the stage 4 baby food it will not be in a jar but in a tv dinner try. Also get him to help you make his food too. If he feels likeheis helping with his food prep he may be willing to eat what he has helped mommy make. I Was a picky eater as a kid myself. I would not eat meat until I was 13 years old. Give him time they will do it when they are ready, don't rush or they will keep doing it.

Hi Y.,
Well here is something to think about - We started feeding our little boy table food around 8 months old. After he got a little taste of some mojo chicken and mashed potatoes, he REFUSED baby food. I was ok with that BUT he would NOT eat ANY vegetables no matter what we did. Then he got into ONLY eating breads and anything starchy. We were really worried he wasn't getting his nutrition. The pediatrician said not to worry just give him a daily Flintstone vitamin (this is of course after he had teeth:) She said as long as he was growing normal he was fine. He will be 2 yrs old this month and he is still a picky eater, still refuses to eat vegetables!!! BUT I can say slowly but surely he is trying new things - AS LONG as he can feed himself.

Maybe you can set your son up in his highchair with his own plate and utensils and give him something with good flavor, like little pieces of cut up chicken, or pork, macaroni, and let him eat by himself. Try not to stare at him and just be busy doing your own thing and he might surprise you!!

It's worth a shot!!!

yes Y., you're not the only one though a 2 year old eating just jar food is something that needs to be changed fast.
i agree with one mom saying cut jar food cold turkey. trust me your son won't starve. he will at first miss a meal and two and three but when hunger kicks in he won't care. start with more plain foods. like pasta (white sauce), then give him something crunchy (they like crunchy at two years of ge) like chicken nugger (ian's makes great ones), then give him hot cereal oatmeal (there are diggerent kinds, nature's way i think organic then fine with quaker like peaches and cream), then offer a banana, i would suggest give him a whole one. my girls love holding a banana liek that and eating at their own pace. trust me start now and in a few months your son will be a different 'man.'good luck and let me know if you need more ideas
V.

Try starting with softer stuff that has the same texture as the jarred food- mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, meatloaf. Softer stuff. Then work your way up. Once he finds something he really likes, trust me he[ll be happy to eat table food. Oh, and eggs! If you scramble some of the leftover baby food into eggs, they get their veggies mixed right in. My daughter loves green eggs or orange eggs.